WATCH: You Are Jelly

The problem with most experimental films, especially those that have a fashion and beauty bent, is that whimsy and pretentiousness are too often lazy substitutes for thoughtfulness. When we find a film that is not only thoughtful but provocative and speckled with instances of true beauty that are also perversely emotional, then we feel confident to declare it a real work of art.

Self-styled ‘body architect’ Lucy McRae created Make Your Maker for a series called “Five Days of Food.” Watching this taps into all sorts of suppressed cannibalistic desires, and explains why models often look good enough to eat (more after the jump):

On Nowness, the artist explains how her work explores how food connects to the body, inside and out:

“Everything is edible,” says McRae of her gelatinous props. “The stuff on the model’s face is inked rice paper, and the jellies on her body are molded agar agar, which is made from natural seaweed.”

The impulse to show what we are turn into what we eat—and vice versa—was inspired by an encounter with Vietnamese restaurateur Nahji Chu whose outlets in the director’s native Australia merge the culinary arts with an investigation of cultural and individual identity. Taking a hands-on approach to every aspect of production, from the cinematography to the science, McRae adds a personal element to that notion of synthesis, inspired by human biology.

“The idea is to create genetic manipulations,” she explains. “Eating them is a transdermal absorption.”

Disagree with your assessment that the Vessel doesn't take its inspiration from step ghats, @kimmelman. It's a very clear reference to Jaipur's Chand Baori. Tarsem Singh's The Fall would illustrate it better than a Google Image search.

Next July 4th, when the tired old memes of the Queen agreeing to take America back into the British fold make their rounds, maybe the UK should finally consider statehood instead. #Brexit #GangThatCantShootStraight